9 - The Formation of Belief
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2011
Summary
Any statement can be held true come what may, if we make drastic enough adjustments elsewhere in the system [of beliefs].
W. V. QuineTo someone standing on the African savannah, walking across a field in the Fertile Crescent or riding across the North American prairie, the evidence of the senses is unequivocal: The Earth is flat. There are local perturbations – valleys and mountains – but they cancel each other over long distances, so the Earth extends in all directions in the horizontal plane. Although it is difficult to prove anything about the beliefs of pre-historic peoples, it would be surprising if they conceived of the Earth in any other way. But the flat Earth generates puzzles: How far does it extend? Does it have an edge? If so, what is beyond the edge? If the ocean extends all the way to the edge, what happens with the water? If it pours over the edge, must not the ocean empty out eventually? Where does the water go? To anyone with the disposition and the opportunity to consider such questions, the lack of intelligible answers must have generated doubt. People living by the sea could make two observations that point to a different conception: Looking out from a high observation point, an observer sees the horizon curve ever so slightly. When a ship approaches, the mast appears over the horizon before the hull.
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- Deep LearningHow the Mind Overrides Experience, pp. 291 - 328Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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